Oh what a night. The image above is the Seattle sunset chart for tonight, May 13th, 2014. The actual sunset time is 8:37pm, but fellow students of sacred geometry will know why I couldn't pass on 8:23pm with 21.35 Scorpio Rising. Ah, the mysteries. We are used to reading maps with North at the top, but that's not the deal with an astro map. Up is Up... makes sense, right? From the Northern Hemisphere, the Sun and Planets are always found in the southern sky so these charts reflect a Southern gaze. Therefore, the left side is the eastern horizon, up is up (towards the South) and the right is West. The picture in the center of the chart above is a South-facing view of the Seattle skyline from Gasworks Park.

This picture shows the Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio section of the mysterious zodiac sundial on the peak of Gasworks Park hill. If you find your way there tonight at 8:23, you'll see... me. Then, together we'll see the Moon rise as the Sun sets. Scorpio Full Moon is 12:15pm tomorrow (5/14/14) so tonight, the Moon will rise just before the Sun rests in the West (exact Moonrise is 7:40pm). Something to see, indeed, but that's just the beginning of the stellar show.

Within an hour's time, we will see six of the seven "Planets" that are visible to the naked eye. From West-to-East (or counter-clockwise on the chart above starting with the Sun on the Western horizon) they are: Sun, Mercury, Jupiter, Mars, Moon, and Saturn. Let's get astrolonautical:

Mercury is approaching his furthest elongation from the Sun. This means the Messenger is almost as bright as He gets. It's not often that we Seattleites are able to see Mercury in the sky, but tonight should be one of those times. Our Mercury mindset is meant to be running at near maximum trickster talents right now. For one, Mercury as at home in the Sign of Gemini, the archetypal carrier of shapeshifter, magician, trickster, circus performer, bard, court jester, Don Juan,... (more about that one month from tonight at Sutra Yoga... Friday the 13th! of June). Mercury has been carrying out-of-the-box Aquarian intellect since He stationed direct in the Sign of Cosmic Consciousness on February 28th. What's more, Mercury is currently "out-of-bounds." This means He is rising and setting further North than the Summer Solstice Sunrise. He's in unchartered territory and Jokers are wild! Time to find truth through the embodiment of eternal youth. I don't want to grow up!

On to Jupiter... the Gas Giant Guru! The brilliant beacon of illumination! I've removed many of the Planets from this chart to emphasize two of this years most significant astrological alignments... both alive now... the Cardinal Grand Cross (Red) and the Grand Water Trine (blue). A Grand Cross is also a Grand Square (shown here in Pink). The Planet's involved beginning with Jupiter at the top-right and moving counter-clockwise: Cancer Jupiter, Libra Mars, Capricorn Pluto, and Aries Uranus. Notice that the Grand Square on this chart is really not too square. That's because it's fading! The Grand Cross peaked on April 23rd around 13.5 degrees of the Cardinal Signs. Since then, Jupiter has sped three and a half degrees forward and Mars has sped three and a half degrees retrograde. The Grand Cross is often called a make-it-or-break-it alignment. They can be pretty damn heavy and last months peak was one of the tightest aligned Crosses in history. I read a million charts and heard all sorts of stories: births and deaths, makeups and breakups, breakthroughs and broken bones. I've called it the mid-sentence exclamation point in the midst of this awakening Shift. Many of us used it to surge ahead. Many of us were used.

That energy dissipates now to be replaced with the Grand Water Trine between Cancer Jupiter, Scorpio Saturn, and Pisces Chiron. This is an alignment of greatest feeling, healing, getting real, and a well deserved rinse with shamanic shampoo. As we open our hearts, we'll open to higher planes of existence and, when we see Spirit, Spirit sees us. As Emerson said, "That only which we have within, can we see without. If we meet no gods, it is because we harbor none."

Notice that the Grand Cross and Grand Trine embrace at Jupiter. In two months, Jupiter will spin His way into the Leo mysteries, but tonight we celebrate the Gas Giant Guru's gift as Cancer Nurturing Mother. This is the Galactic Baby Bottle feeding us cosmic nutrients during this time of great rEvolution.

Mars was reborn as Libra God on April 8th during his biannual Solar Opposition. Tonight He reveals Himself in a night sky dance with Porrima near the shoulder of the Virgin. The ancient astrologers knew Porrima to be a star of greatest prophetic gifts. Modern astronomers know it to be a binary system 38 light years from Earth. This dance continues the ongoing reunion of the Masculine and Feminine. Perhaps emphasized by the current Venus-Mars Opposition.

The main event tonight is a Saturn Occultation. More about that here. In the old stories, Saturn was known for eating his babies. Tonight Luna strikes back! Throughout the course of the night, the Moon will slowly approach Saturn until She swollows the Ringed One completely in the wee hours. Click on the charts above to see the Moon approaching Saturn at midnight, closer at 2:30am, then reaching exact conjunction at 5:01am just after Venus (conjunct Uranus rises in the East). I haven't watched one of these before, but I imagine the Moon will begin Her Saturn-disappearing act around 3:00am. This will be something to see!

Astrologically, Saturn represents the Rules and tonight the Moon will block them from our view and perhaps from our truth. It's time to get trickster! and you are astrolonautically invited to join me tonight for some stellar astronomy, astrology, and constellation Starrytelling. I will also be taking a free look at natal charts (though donations or trades are always appreciated). If you'd like to hear your own tale from the Shamanic Astrology perspective, be sure to show up with your birth time. I can run your chart on my star machine.

See you in Space! or at GasWorks Park in Seattle after 8:23pm tonight.